Corn and Fructose Malabsorption

I'm no doctor, I'm just a girl collecting my findings of food allergies, intolerances, and malabsorptions. Of course, you should ALWAYS consult with a doctor or dietician before starting a new diet, especially if you suspect or know of an allergy.

I knew before I was even diagnosed with fructose malabsorption disorder that my body was reacting very badly to anything that had corn in it. So, I think that I must have a corn allergy (not a doctor's diagnosis!). Since being diagnosed with fructose malabsorption, I have been trying VERY hard to be as free of fructose, as well as corn, as possible... and still having terrible reactions to so many things that I thought were ok! So, I've become quite adept at trying to pinpoint where the actual problems are coming from. Lo and behold, the answer is usually CORN. Sneaky sneaky corn. It's in SO MUCH! I am definitely going to get myself tested to find out if I have a corn allergy, but let me tell you, when you are in chronic pain over food, you learn to listen to your body. Period. EVERY TIME I have corn, I am in pain. So, even if it turns out I don't have a corn allergy, I will still avoid it like the plague.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of the products I recently found out have, or might have corn in them. I've been attempting to do some gluten free baking lately (an easy way to avoid wheat, which is a fructan- watch for other problematic ingredients, though!). Since gluten is the sticky part that helps breads and pastries stick together, the recipes will often call for something like guar gum, or xanthan gum. Xanthan gum is usually derived from corn! I hear there are some that aren't made from corn, but I haven't been able to find any. Baking powder has cornstarch, and most caramel is made with corn syrup. Also, I have been using dextrose instead of sugar to avoid the fructose part of the sugar, but I have found that anyone avoiding corn should be wary of food products that list dextrose as an ingredient. Dextrose used in food products is not chemically pure, and can contain remnants of what it was made from, which is usually corn. I did find that I was reacting to a certain brand of hashbrowns that listed dextrose, and have stayed away from anything listing dextrose ever since. (Apparently, chemically pure dextrose should be ok, because it isn't a protein and thus can't be an allergen- but I haven't been able to verify that quite yet.) Vegetable anything, and anything that lists "flavoring" or "natural flavor" I avoid, just in case. Some other ones I avoid are corn alcohols or alcohols that don't say what they are made from (could be corn-derived). I've personally reacted to vanilla, and vanillin.  Cellulose and stearic acid are two that I have seen listed on medication- so I avoid those medications.

TONS of things that you would never think have corn in them... do.

IT'S NOT FAIRRRR!

But life goes on, right? The best I can do is try and avoid it as much as possible. I found two amazing sites that have been a tremendous help in figuring out what to avoid. You'll see that some of my information comes from these sites (like the part about the dextrose!) Check them out, if you are interested in an extensive list of items that (may) contain corn.

http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/corn-bother.html
http://www.cornallergens.com/list/corn-allergen-list.php


*Again, I'm no doctor, I'm just a girl collecting my findings of food allergies, intolerances, and malabsorptions. Of course, you should ALWAYS consult with a doctor or dietician before starting a new diet, especially if you suspect or know of an allergy.